


as a ringing bell

by axumun



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Party, Established Relationship, Fluff, Holidays, Light Angst, M/M, Marriage Proposal, just a sprinkle I promise, just straight up cheese
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:40:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28064853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/axumun/pseuds/axumun
Summary: "What's gotten into you, babe?" Galo asks, tone easy, watching from the adjoined kitchen as Lio sets the tree on the end table by the couch. "Thought Christmas wasn't your thing.""It's not," Lio insists, poking the tiny bulbs on the tree's string of lights. "This city's poisoned me."
Relationships: Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 11
Kudos: 66
Collections: Promare Holiday Potluck 2020





	as a ringing bell

**Author's Note:**

> This was written to coincide with [The Promare Holiday Potluck](https://twitter.com/MerryPromarey)!

The Parnassus crash had only been a couple of months out from last Christmas, when virtually every waking hour was spent clearing rubble, rotating through government buildings, and rebuilding structures from the foundation up. They hadn't been dating then; there'd been way too much on both of their plates, even if they'd only held out for a few more weeks, anyway.

Galo had gotten Lio a gift; it was a hard year for everyone but probably unimaginably so for him. It was a heated blanket - battery powered, not electric, more like something you'd use for camping. Galo told himself it was because Lio was sleeping in a bunch of different places all the time, helping to rehabilitate the ex-Burnish; definitely not because he wanted to eliminate the risk of an electrical fire. But hey, it was a bonus.

Lio had thanked him despite looking puzzled, like he wasn't really sure what to do with the gesture. All the same, he'd brought it with him every time he'd crashed at Galo's apartment. Now it's a staple appliance of the one they currently share.

It's early November and there are already lights in all of the shop windows and wreaths on all the streetlights. The streets of Promepolis are calmer now, a little over a year's worth of work paying off in the relaxed grins of passing strangers. Galo's glad that everyone's comfortable enough to decorate this year, though the weather is still a little too mild for the dressing to feel appropriate.

"That was fast," Galo remarks, one hand feeling for a candy bar still stuffed in his jacket pocket from Halloween, the other reaching for Lio's beside him as they stroll down the sidewalk.

Lio hums, and when Galo turns his head to look at him, his eyes are wide and bright, somewhere between childlike awe and intense study, like he's looking through a microscope. The tiny white lights are reflecting in Lio's purple-sunset irises and Galo has to shut his own eyes to ride out a wave of giddiness.

"It's pretty," Lio says at last, voice steady like he's trying to sound impartial, expression still wondrous.

"Isn't it? I used to love coming down mainstreet this time of year as a kid," Galo babbles, fingers squeezing Lio's. "It's even prettier when it snows. I don't know about _this_ year, but there's usually a big Christmas tree lighting in the plaza for the first snowfall, and I used to go all the time with - "

His heart falls through the floor. After a moment of sudden, cold silence, he swiftly picks it back up. He mildly clears his throat. "Anyway. That might not happen this year. Maybe the next one. You'd really love it."

"I'd like that," Lio murmurs, gripping his hand even tighter and not letting up. "I never usually cared much about Christmas."

Lio hasn't talked much in detail about his childhood - neither of them have, really - but Galo knows enough about Lio being passed between shelters, orphanages, and safehouses - then going it alone in the stretch of the last few years - to put the pieces together. 

"There was one good one," Lio reminisces, conversational. "The year that I met the old leader of the Mad Burnish. We were travelling cross-country with a group of runaway kids, but we got snowed in and had to stay in this abandoned shack until the storm passed. He left one night, and when he came back, he had a bag of candy canes for all the kids. And somehow we had enough food for everyone that winter." Lio takes a reverent pause. "I learned a lot from him."

Galo studies Lio's expression in between glances at the sidewalk ahead of them. He doesn't seem sad, or bitter; more like he's trying to cling to the smallest shreds of positivity that he can grab from his bleak history. He waits for elaboration, but nothing follows.  
  
Galo's chest tightens. He wants to give Lio something more substantial, something happier to look back on.

Sometimes the task feels mountainous, but right now, as they stroll hand in hand, Galo can see a future where he can finally provide Lio the solace he's never had, and maybe find his own on the way.

"This is it," Galo says, letting go and bounding forward to open the heavy wooden door of the diner, bowing for Lio to enter. "Are you ready to try the best damn waffles and bacon in Promepolis?"

<<<\-->>>

"Lio, I just..." A huff of breath, a steeling of eyes. "Lio Fotia, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Please, grace me with the presence of your radiant being until the end of our days."

The pause is too long, and Galo's smile starts to waver, eyes dimming.

"Galo," Lucia stage whispers, "you're supposed to get on one knee, not salute."

"Shit!" Galo drops his straightened hand from his forehead, holding it like he's been burned. "This is so hard!"

"No, that was better!" Aina reassures. "You didn't stutter at all that last time. You've come so far!"

Galo sighs, heavy and vocal, then feels his strength slowly return. "I think I'll do it tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Remi echoes. "What's the occasion?"

"Nothin'," says Galo, bracing himself with the counter at his back. "It just feels good. Gonna make dinner, have a nice night in. Then I'm just gonna go for it."

Varys chuckles. "No changing your mind now, Thymos."

"Nope!" Galo slides back into the empty seat at the table. The gang's most of the way through their first round of crazy eights, but Galo doesn't much remember what had been going on before a pang of spontaneity compelled him to run a practice proposal. Whatever it was, it's passed, no longer rotting his brain. They continue for three more rounds, only a little over halfway through Aina's complimentary bottle of champagne between the five of them. She decides to leave it for the next bout, knowing Galo isn't really into drinking.

"Good luck tomorrow!" Aina cheers, only a little buzzed as she wraps Galo in a bear hug undiminished by her stature, then waves her way out the door. The others echo her, a stone-sober Remi giving a quick bow as he jingles his keys.

The quiet resounds in the dining room as the door clicks shut, and Galo breathes it in. His next moves are clear, his ambitions are strong, and he feels invincible. 

Lio comes home from Meis and Gueira's place a couple hours later, arms quickly looping around Galo's neck, all playful licks and nips when they kiss. Galo adores how affectionate Lio has become in the better part of a year - he's grown so much from his feral cat-like initial stance on touching and being touched - but even this is coming on surprisingly strong for him.

Galo hums an easy laugh against Lio's mouth. "You just saw me a few hours ago, little pyro. Were you drinking?"

"No," Lio answers. The clarity in his eyes and confidence in his movements is his proof. "Just really love you."

Galo's heart does a triple flip in his chest, and he pulls Lio tighter, stumbling until he bumps into the kitchen counter, knees feeling weak.

"I was wondering," Lio whispers in his ear, "if you wanted to get a Christmas tree."

"Oh," Galo stammers. He's never had his own before, never really considered it. He's only just realizing that his connection to the holidays has only been as deep as his severed ties with Kray, and it hurts to dig up memories that he'd thought were happy only to find that they're distorted and ugly.

But it's Lio. _Lio_ wants a tree, _Lio_ wants to celebrate with him.

"Maybe just a small one," Galo acquiesces, hands framing Lio's hips. He kisses Lio's cheek, as if in silent apology for his straying thoughts.

"How about tomorrow?" Lio asks, between deepening, resuming kisses, and the world stutters beneath Galos feet. 

"Yeah," Galo answers, and he hasn't felt so sure of anything in a long, long time. By the time he finds his footing, he's letting Lio practically drag him by the hem of his shirt, chest feeling ready to burst.

<<<\-->>>

It really is a small one, pre-lit and maybe two feet high, with a box of tiny bulbs to decorate it. Lio unboxes it proudly, that looking-through-a-microscope expression back on his face, eyebrows knitted and lips pressed into a concentrated line.

"What's gotten into you, babe?" Galo asks, tone easy, watching from the adjoined kitchen as Lio sets the tree on the end table by the couch. "Thought Christmas wasn't your thing."

"It's not," Lio insists, poking the tiny bulbs on the tree's string of lights. "This city's poisoned me."

"Was it the diner?" Galo teases. "Had your first glass of eggnog and heard a couple carols on the radio, and you've gone all soft on me?"

"The eggnog was gross," Lio insists. "But...maybe. Maybe it's an indoctrination."

"Perhaps," Galo muses, looking past Lio out the window. It's just starting to snow, but he can already tell it won't be enough to stick to the ground. Still romantic enough. "This time of year is okay. It makes people nicer, or at least pretend to be."

Lio unwraps the cord, reaching it toward the outlet by the table. "Not my thing. I don't deal with pretenders." He fits the plug in, the lights swiftly coming to life inches from Lio's face, and his eyes widen cartoonishly, jaw falling a little slacker than he usually lets it. The reflections are in his eyes again, and Galo pinches his own arm.  
  
"I could get some of these for the shelters," Lio suggests, smiling softly at the glow.

Galo hears himself say that dinner is almost ready.

<<<\-->>>

Aina's been coaching him that there's no perfect moment, just the one you choose. He thinks she's wrong, because nothing could feel more perfect than this. 

Lio's giggling at some stupid joke he cracked, his face lit up in its aftermath, and their eyes meet. The candle that Galo had made a show of lighting is dappling light onto Lio's hair, and he looks like a thousand forevers, the kindling of a million fires. Galo feels for the little box in his pocket.

Then his fucking phone rings.

"Dammit - " Galo bites as he glances at the screen. "It's work, baby, I'm so sorry - " He's rushing between rooms out of muscle memory to grab what he needs, and to stifle his frustration, and stuff the ring in the very back of the nightstand drawer that they never use -

\- but when he returns to Lio, he's just smirking, reassuringly cradling Galo's face with one hand before he flicks the kitchen light back on and blows out the candle.

"It's all right," Lio murmurs, eyes sad but voice sincere. "Whatever it's for, give it your whole burning soul."

Galo pushes down the part of him that screams that it's not too late. He's been interrupted by a call in before - everyone has - but this one is the hardest for his brain to wrap around and switch gears from.

He smiles against it anyway, squeezing Lio's hand and giving him a quick kiss. "If you go to bed soon, unplug the tree, please," he murmurs, followed by "I love you," and then he's gone.

<<<\-->>>

"A party?" Lio can't look quizzically over Galo's shoulder, on account of Galo being so stupidly tall, so he settles for reading upside down. 

"Burning Rescue throws the best Christmas parties," Galo excitedly explains, turning the flyer and holding it up for Lio's inspection like a child's art project. "And this year's gonna be an even bigger one, since we had to skip last year. It's mostly a potluck but we usually get the cake catered - "

"Cake?" Lio brightens a little before neutralizing himself, as if by reflex.

"What's your big party scheme this year, Lu?" Varys calls from across the break room, edging his way into the mischief.

"If I divulged all my secrets, I'd be a terrible mad scientist," Lucia reasons, tapping away at her keyboard. "But you're gonna love it."

Galo continues, " - and I mean _huge_ , like, everyone in the city can come. It's crazy!"

When Galo looks back to Lio, he's hoping for a wide grin to mirror his own, but Lio looks downcast, thoughtful. "The Burnish, too?"

The room falls silent, as everyone considers the weight of the question.

"Yeah, Lio," says Lucia, trying to put on a maniacal grin to lighten the mood, but it's cut with a fond understanding. "Everyone!" The others echo their agreement in unison, and Galo hums along to the chorus. 

It's a great idea that he hasn't considered until now; the party can be a great opportunity for the citizens of Promepolis to warm up to the ex-Burnish and see their humanity, and vice versa. He's not going to kid himself into thinking one Christmas party is going to bridge thirty years of broken trust, but he can hope that it'll be a good start.

Lio cracks a smile, but he's taken to hiding his eyes under his bangs. He makes his way to Lucia's computer, placing his hand on her stack of flyers in a silent request for permission which she grants. 

"I can spread these around town," Lio explains. "In the shops, the shelters. If that would be helpful."

"Yeah, go wild," Lucia chimes. "Thanks!"

<<<\-->>>

Galo's known for a while that Lio - like all other ex-Burnish - is susceptible to colds. Last winter, when their relationship was new and fragile, he'd stocked up on vitamins and medicine after his first flu, mother-henning over Lio every time he left the house in the aftermath to make sure he'd been wearing enough layers. He'd backed off when he realized Lio was annoyed by it.

Today, he sort of wishes he hadn't.

"I got cocky," Lio murmurs before a pitiful sneeze wracks his frame. He huddles further under his blanket cocoon on the couch. "Guess I thought I was used to the cold."

Galo had asked for the next couple of days off upon realizing Lio's symptoms are more than acclimations to the seasonal change. He's glad for that now, because Lio keeps rubber banding between "conscious but uncomfortable" and "seeming a sneeze away from blacking out". 

"Hey, just rest, okay baby?" Galo pets at his hair, all that really remains of his visible form now, and Lio groans.

"Okay," Lio croaks. "This sucks."

Galo shushes him soothingly, fingers still petting Lio's fringe. Eventually Lio gives in, breathing finally evening to something slow and solid. Galo settles in, melting beside him, following Lio's pattern and managing it for a good while.

Until Lio's disturbed by a cough so powerful, Galo's scared he'll break a rib.

He's up to grab Lio a glass of water and back before he even really feels awake, feet heavy and chest tightening, an illogical panic strickening him. Lio manages to take it from his hands and drink, which he's thankful for. He's got the back of his hand to Lio's forehead, searing and sweaty to the touch, but he's started shivering like he's stuck in a blizzard.

"Babe," Galo calls, as if he's far away, "is there anything I can do? Need me to get you anything?" He glances at the digital clock; they still have two hours before Lio can take another dose.

Lio meets his eyes then, gaze almost dreamlike, and Galo takes the glass from him when the shake in his hands threatens to let it drop.

"I'm okay," Lio rasps. "So good to me, Galo. Don't deserve you."

Galo frowns. "Hey. I don't care if it's the cold meds talkin', get those words out of your mouth, okay? You sure _do_ deserve someone carin' about you. I hoped you'd believe that by now."

Lio's head falls back against the couch, grin widening, eyes falling closed. "You're so sweet. Wanna marry you. Wanna take care of you, too."

The same adrenaline rush that grips Galo when he rushes into a burning building creeps into him then, something dreadful mixing like rising smoke with something exciting and dangerous. He _wants_ this, has wanted this for longer than he wants to admit, but not like this. Not when Lio's conked out of his mind on over-the-counter drugs. Not if looking back on this will bring the memory of the misery with it.

"Go to sleep, Lio," Galo murmurs softly, thumb tracking down Lio's cheek.

"You wanna marry me?" Lio's smile hasn't left, and then his eyes are open and intent. Galo feels himself on the brink of insanity.

"Later," Galo whispers, softly shushing him again. "For now, you've gotta sleep, okay?"

"Cold," Lio complains, and the way he's still shivering under all of Galo's best comforters proves it. Galo wants to wrap him up and transfer all of his own heat, give whatever he can so Lio can feel okay again, in and out of his head. He settles for cuddling, pulling Lio perhaps a little too close for his contagion, dropping a kiss on his ear like a talisman.

Sleep eventually reclaims Lio, but Galo isn't so lucky. He glances at the Christmas tree beside them on the end table, realizing that he'd never unplugged it before he settled. Lio's face, finally relaxed again, is blushing with all of the colors of its lights, still strikingly beautiful for his dry lips and pallid skin.

_The perfect moment doesn't exist._

<<<\-->>>

Aina's been giving him the same sad puppy eyes every day since the not-proposal. When Galo tells her about last night, her sympathetic pout deepens. Galo can't tell if he hates seeing Aina sad more than he appreciates the solidarity.

"Why didn't you just ask him when you got back?" Remi asks, voice strained as he tightens up the arm of his mech. 

"He was asleep, duh," Galo answers, no edge behind it.

"Why not the next day?"

"It wasn't right," says Galo, suddenly feeling like the right words don't exist to justify himself. Today may be the day that Burning Rescue learns exactly why Galo is so reckless and spontaneous, other than it serving him well in life-or-death scenarios; if he doesn't act in the moment, he never stops second-guessing himself.

"It doesn't have to be," Aina insists, the words practiced on her tongue like it's the twentieth time this week she's said them.

"Oh no," Galo frets, starting to pace, hands gesturing wildly in the air and only resting to touch his face. "Is it too soon? What if he's not ready? What if I make him feel trapped - " It hasn't even been a full year, so maybe there's a gun being jumped, but Galo can think of no other way to explain it than there's just no reason to _wait_ anymore, not when the question wants to jump out of his chest nearly every second of every day. They'd already merged souls in a giant robot, saved the world together, helped rebuild the city together, what else is there to _prove_ \- ?

His fumbling and babbling are quickly halted by Aina's foot making controlled but sharp contact with his ribs. "Ow!"

"Thymos, shut the hell up," Aina tells him, as firm but kind as the phrase can humanly be. "If you're going to do this, you'd better damn well _do_ it, and stop your sulking. You have to believe this will turn out okay, and if you don't, let me believe that for the both of you."

Galo's still recovering from the kick, but he swears he feels tears building in the corners of his eyes unrelated to the pain. "Okay. You're right. You're the best, Aina."

"I know," she preens. "Now. How about the Christmas party? If you need some big grand gesture. It's only a couple weeks away."

Galo places his hand on his chin. "Maybe...after. Maybe I can get him alone. It's all so much.."

"You know I'm always here if you wanna talk about it." Aina places a stabilizing hand on Galo's elbow. "Just no beating yourself up, okay? You got this."

<<<\-->>>

Lio isn't super comfortable in crowds, but he's trying his best for this, weaving in and out and making pleasantries with people who stop him. He still tends to stay in the general vicinity of Meis, Gueira, and Burning Rescue 3, though.

Pride wells in Galo's chest at the sight of him - his rented gray tux with a subtle shimmer of silver, the longest parts of his hair pulled back into a tiny ponytail, the faintest glint of purple eyeshadow in the corners of his eyes. Galo saw him at home, of course, but they'd left at different times and arrived separately, so it feels like a first impression all over again. 

Galo's so lost in his thoughts that he almost totally misses Lio waving at him from across the foyer, a dumb lovestruck smile frozen across his own face. He laughs at himself, then stammers, then follows Lio's pull like a beacon.

Everyone had taken part in decorating the station, even the former Mad Burnish. The walls are adorned with strings of lights and lengths of evergreen garland, wreaths on all the doors, tables of food and drinks adorned with neatly-straightened tablecloths. The line around the food table seems to be constantly going, and for good reason - the party is a revolving door of passers-by, ex-Burnish indistinguishable from otherwise. Even those who just showed up for the free food seem to be enjoying themselves a little bit, even begrudgingly. 

For a couple of hours, it feels like a peaceful haven. Galo can only hope Lio feels it, too.

"Glad you made it," Lio says, their fingers meeting and grasping first as they meet. His eyes silently scan up and down Galo's fitted dark blue tux, appreciative. Galo giggles against the top of his head.

True to her word, Lucia has a bunch of little robots running around, smart enough to weave through traffic and unobtrusive enough that they're largely unbothered, except by a couple of curious children. They've been programmed to meet in pairs under the sprigs of mistletoe stuck in each corner of the room, and smoosh their mostly-featureless faces together. Galo wonders momentarily if it's some kind of social experiment, then wonders if she learned anything from designing their AI that she could add to his Matoi. He should ask her later.

"I'm thirsty," Lio muses.

"Oh." Galo scans the room for the easiest route to the table. "I can grab you something."

"Thanks. I'll be right here."

Galo can feel Lio's eyes on him the whole way there and back, adoring yet with a layer of calculation, as always. He's come to revel in it, but tonight, combined with the weight of the loose ring in his pocket again, it prickles anxiously along his spine. He finds Aina's gaze at an adjacent table from where she's still serving people, and they share a thumbs up. One of the bots lightly bumps against the back of his knee and beeps apologetically. He grabs Lio a cola.

"You're the best," Lio tells him as he takes the can. "Marry me."

It doesn't hit him at first, because everything is so loud and happening so fast, but Lio's eyes are deadly serious, playful only in the way they get when he presents Galo with a challenge.

"What?" Galo asks, dumbstruck.

"Well?" Lio implores.

Galo swallows then, gathering every last grain of his resolve, gripping tight to his last shreds of coherency.

"Lio," he manages, proud of how strong he can make his voice sound in that moment, "you're coming with me."

<<<\-->>>

"I got sick of waiting for you," Lio says , giggling as he's pulled through the truck bay, lead along by the pull of Galo's hand. The ring suddenly feels like it weighs ten tons and Galo doesn't trust himself to remember how to pick it up.

"Lio." Galo heaves past his tightening jaw, desperate. "You can't joke with me like this, I just did that ancestry thing a couple months back and I have a long family history of hypertension - "

"I wasn't joking."

Their eyes meet again, now that they're totally alone, an unstoppable force and an immovable object. It's a familiar clash, even if the context couldn't be more different. 

Galo falls to both knees.

"Yes," he breathes, looking at the floor. Then he looks up, eyes finding Lio's again. "Yes," he repeats. He steadies his shaking fingers long enough to grasp the ring, transferring it toward Lio's outstretched hand. It's a delicate silver band set with an opal, which the jeweller had told him is softer and easier to break than most engagement rings, but he's looked into how to care for it because it had just seemed so _perfect_ \- 

"Something about this feels backwards," Galo hiccups, tears burning behind his eyes but not forming. The world around him dulls, its scope narrowing to Lio's hand and the promise he's laid upon it.

Lio lets out a cleansing sigh. He pops the tab off of the soda can he's still holding and cheekily tries to push it onto Galo's ring finger. It doesn't even make it past his nail. They both crack up, and Lio's knees buckle, falling to Galo's level again.

"So that was it, huh?" Galo can barely see past the stars in his eyes.

"That's all." Lio confirms. "I really did wait as long as I could. I was trying to preserve your gentleman's pride, y'know. But it was just too much."

Galo holds both of Lio's hands, still transfixed on their rings. "This is...real? I get to keep you? We get to live together and sleep in the same bed and eat pizza and kiss all the time?"

Lio kisses his answer into Galo's mouth, met with just as much eagerness.

"Wow," Galo whispers, dazed as they part. "I should propose to you more often."

"You fool," Lio chides him, but he's still smiling. "We'd better get back out there, though."  
  
<<<\-->>>  
  
There's no grand announcement. Even among the chaos and din of the party, Aina and Remi notice the rings first, while Varys and Lucia notice the shine in their eyes as they cling to each other. The news spreads like wildfire, but quieter. They're caught safely in its torrent, echoing every passing woop and cheer. Galo had left the pop tab stuck on his finger, and when it starts to cut off his circulation, Ignis swoops in and attaches it to a length of 550 cord, hanging it around Galo's neck.  
  
Meis and Gueira are the only ones that can pull Lio away from Galo in a crushing hug pile, and Galo swears they're starting to cry even though he knows they'd never admit it. Lio's eyeshadow is smudged and his ponytail is coming loose, and Galo's hair is starting to fall limp in his face. They're laughing and smiling so hard that their faces hurt, but everything starting to feel too tight, too close.  
  
No one begrudges them leaving early, but it's not without a lot of bear hugs and shared sentiments to hang out and catch up soon. When Lio wraps his arms around Galo's waist, Galo can feel the searing frame of the ring press against his sternum, and his heart feels like it's trying to beat out of his chest to become wrapped around it.  
  
The quiet of their apartment is stark compared to where they just came from, the walls feeling plain, the air too cold. They still haven't stopped touching, fingers brushing whatever skin they can find, but there's no urgency, their fire contained to a steady candlelight. They undress each other almost methodically and simply adapt to something more befitting of their surroundings.  
  
Lio plugs in the tree in the living room; the only light on in the house. They stand together, hands clasped, bewitched.  
  
"Christmas is only a few days away," Lio starts, "and I feel like there's nothing else I can give you."  
  
Galo scoffs a little. "You're kidding, right? You don't need...you already..."  
  
Before Lio, Galo had felt so confident about his words and emotions, and now the wires cross in ways he never thought possible. It's exhilarating, but throws him off balance. He doesn't know how to vocalize anything whirring in his head, but he knows the pages are being rewritten, their bleak histories forging and creating a brave new one.  
  
He tries again. "You gave me the world, Lio." This time when he grasps Lio's hand, he does his best to telepathically pass along everything he can't get through his mouth "So you're right, there's nothing else."  
  
Lio stares ahead thoughtfully at the tree. "Y'know," he murmurs, "Christmas is okay, I guess."  
  
Galo scoops him right up then, electricity overloading him. "It is now!" he agrees. Lio usually hates being picked up and manhandled, but he welcomes it, pulling his head down so they can kiss for the five hundredth time today, melting against his chest.  
  
The night ends according to its own fancy, as they feed each other bites of leftover cake and watch the snow fall. None of it is planned, none of it is foreseen, but Galo's not sure he could've orchestrated a better evening. Lio falls asleep in his arms, and the peace on his face reflects a similar sentiment.

<<<\--->>>

"So," Galo breathes against the crown of Lio's hair, the morning light just beginning to pass through. "Fotia-Thymos? Or Thymos-Fotia?"

"I like Thymos-Fotia," Lio mumbles sleepily. "But we have time to decide."

Galo hums. "I like your modesty!" His eyes fall closed, and he finds sleep again.

**Author's Note:**

> does anyone remember what a party is like because I sure don't.
> 
> Come hang out with me [on twitter](https://twitter.com/jadebrace1) , I'm so lonely.


End file.
